Mr Seaton said: “My stepfather passed away on March 1. He was a good and honest man, but it was a shock when after struggling with our grief, we then had to cope with being told this.

“The council have no understanding of grief and loss – and I find it unbelievable that they can introduce this unfeeling, cold and calculated rule.”

He said his family undertook the clearance of his council flat with urgency so that another tenant could be housed as soon as possible.

He said that his family knew nothing of tenancy agreements, but were told that his stepfather would have had to give notice whether he was dead or alive.

He added: “They said that ‘after all, he signed the tenancy agreement’.”

A Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing spokesman said it is a condition of every tenancy that four week’s notice is given prior to termination with no exclusions for termination upon death.

In these circumstances the next of kin are required to settle the affairs of the deceased including any outstanding contractual commitments.

Ian Saville, chief executive of Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing, said: “We hope that tenants understand the council’s reasons for requesting that the contractual four week’s notice period is applied in all cases. To not do so, lengthens the time taken to re-let a property, and the extra cost of rent lost then effectively falls upon all tenants to pay.”